The present invention relates to a light collector for coupling light into fiber optic light pipes and more specifically to a collector having primary mirrors and secondary mirrors in a double confocal arrangement.
In the design of light coupling devices gains in light collector efficiency are essential to the commercial success of light distribution systems such as a central lighting system in an automobile. One consideration designing light collectors is shaping the reflective surfaces to direct light to a light transmission medium in the most efficient manner. Another consideration is shaping light collectors to meet packaging sizes. However, shaping for efficiency and overall package size often presents opposing goals.
In prior art FIG. 1, a known light collector has a pair of primary mirrors 110 with a common focal point 112. Each primary mirror 110 also has a second focal point 114 and 114' located at the center of a face of fiber optic light pipes 116 and 116' respectively. One problem this design is the inefficiency of light lost in the space between light pipes 116 and 116' and primary mirrors 110.